Wednesday, July 22, 2009

Between the long shifts in the Emergency Room and the Dusty Remodel, it probably sounds like we haven't had any time for play.

But that is not the case.

When we first moved to Iowa, a lot of the locals kept apologizing over the lack of things to do. We got a lot of "Sorry it's so boring here."

Keith and I, so far, have been far from bored (it may just be we are too busy to be bored. But we like to think that we are good at finding things to do.)

A week and a half ago, we took the boys to an RC airshow. I remember my dad flying remote control airplanes when I was a little girl. I remember watching him careful build the small scale airplane in his office. (I also remember crying about wanting to go home at one of the airshows, but give me a break, I was four years old.)

The airshow was surprisingly crowded. And a lot of fun. There were freestyle competitions, "limbo" competitions, a wonderfully moving tribute to WWII veterans, and a huge candy drop (yes, from a RC airplane) for the kids.

Last week, when I actually had two days in a row off, we decided that all the stress of the Big Move, Residency, and the Dusty Remodel were starting to affect everyone's nerves. So we decided it was time for a mini-vacation.

We drove to Des Moines, stayed in a hotel, went swimming, and went out to dinner.

We had a wonderful time. The zoo didn't have many of the animals that Hogle Zoo in Salt Lake City had. Most notably, no elephants. And no rhinos, hippos, or crocodiles. But the zoo was much more interactive. There was a huge petting area with llamas, goats, and cows. There were camel rides (and no way I was going to get my over-excitable children to even consider that.) There were multiple training and feeding demonstrations for servals, penguins, sea lions, and lions.

Feeding goats

Feeding koiIt was a feeding frenzy! Look at all those open mouths!

Rope Bridge in the Zoo's new aquarium/indoor exhibit building

No zoo trip is ever complete without a train ride

And the truely best part...

We got to feed the giraffes!

The weather was nice, the boys were delightful (all except the time Blaise hit some lady in the back of the head during a mini-tantrum at the bird show.)

Blaise, being particularly good atop Daddy's shoulders

We came home happy, tired, and refreshed. And feeling like, at least for this weekend, Iowa had plenty for us to do.

I would love to go to that zoo. That is awesome you got to feed the giraffes and I love how you did a video of it. I remember mom got to almost "feed" the giraffes here when it wrapped it's tongue around the diaper bag strap and Mom had a little tug-a-war with it.